In the prior art, there have been a number of approaches to developing infra-red burners, particularly those types of burners which use a fibrous refractory felt burner face that is permeable to a combustible mixture. The basic problem that arises is confining the heat from the infra-red generation to the surface of the matrix and preventing its spreading outside the edge of the matrix face. Examples of some of the prior approaches are seen in the Smith U.S. Pat. No. 4,035,132 and the Bratko et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,189,297. In addition, the problem has been previously addressed in my prior application Ser. No. 399,293 filed July 19, 1982. In that application, which was primarily directed to the concept of utilizing both radiant and convective energy and controlling the convective energy with individually supplied air knives on each of the four sides of the matrix, it was discovered that there were certain constructional features that related to escaping gasses that were not properly addressed.
It is therefore the primary object of the present invention to provide an infra-red burner with the air knife construction, which grips the edge of the matrix in a positive manner to prevent gas leakage, and yet retains the provision for the delivery of air through the air knives around the periphery of the burner.